Gauchos officially hot…sweep Grossmont

The Saddleback women's volleyball team recorded its biggest win of the season on Wednesday as it went on the road to Grossmont College and defeated the Griffins, 3-0.  The Gauchos have now swept six straight opponents.

Saddleback came into the match ranked No. 14 in the state in the latest California Community College Women's Volleyball Coaches Association poll but knew they had their hands full with a trip to No. 4 Grossmont on Wednesday.  Riding a five-game streak in which the Gauchos have swept all of their opponents 3-0, it would only stand to reason that even if they happened to win the match that the sweep-streak would likely come to an end.   Saddleback turned reasonable doubt upside down, sweeping the Griffins 25-22, 25-18, 25-19 in what is arguably the biggest win for the Gaucho program in a couple of decades.

"It was an amazing win for the ladies," head coach Brian Hughes said.  "Hopefully this will give them some confidence heading forward into conference play."

Saddleback shot out of the gate to a 6-1 lead in the opening set.  Mandy Sides had back-to-back kills to start the match and the Gauchos never relinquished the lead.  Grossmont closed to within 24-23 at the end of the set before committing an error on a bad set to allow Saddleback to win the opening set.

The second set started the exact same way as Saddleback sprinted to a 6-1 lead behind a handful of mistakes by the Griffins and kills by Avie Butsko and Kelli Dowell.  Grossmont would never get closer than four the rest of the way as Saddleback opened up a nine-point lead on two occasions in cruising to a 25-18 win.

Grossmont had its first and only lead of the match as they scored the opening point of the third set.  The Gauchos responded by winning five of the next six points as Grossmont would never lead the rest of the way.  The Griffins tied the set at 7-7 when Saddleback went on a 9-4 run to take a 16-11 lead.  After a couple of Griffin points the Gauchos then won six straight points, five of which came on errors by Grossmont.  Saddleback closed out the match on a thundering kill by Lauren Whitehouse. 

Sides had a great night, leading the team in both kills (6) and digs (6).  Antonette Rolda led the Gauchos with 14 assists. 

Saddleback (8-4, 1-0) will be tested again on Friday when it travels to inter-district rival Irvine Valley College for a match with the Lasers.  Irvine Valley (8-0, 2-0) is ranked No. 2 in the state and has lost only one set all season.  Match time is scheduled for 6:00 PM at IVC.